The China Program AN INSIDE LOOK AT BLUE MARBLE UNIVERSITYS BA/MS - PDF document

The China Program AN INSIDE LOOK AT BLUE MARBLE UNIVERSITY’S BA/MS IN CHINESE LANGUAGE Alan W Abrams THE CHINA PROGRAM MASTER’S PRESENTATIO N | 05/2019

The Program THE CHINA PROGRAM IS BLUE MARBLE UNIVERS ITY’S BA/MS CHINESE LANGUAGE DEGREE PROGRAM. In tandem with China increasing its global influence and language standards for foreign work permits, Blue Marble University has created a 2-4-year virtual learning program for this ancient and increasingly relevant global language. A DEGREE AWARDED FOR PROFICIENCY AND TAILORED FOR THE PROFICIENT. Refreshingly, proficiency is the program’s focus, rather than seat time and class hours. It is completely suitable for beginners who will be taken through the degree program to adequate proficiency for professional use. Students who are already proficient to some degree can begin customized curriculums tailored by Blue Marble University ’s vastly experienced , professional and capable faculty. Being in China since 2002, proficiency in Chinese was not the focus of my degree program. Instead, after assessing my language skill level as sufficiently proficient, the university crafted a student-directed curriculum. The result was a personally meaningful, valuable and dynamic foray into China’s language and culture through the study of China’s philosophy, medicine, education and herbal extract industry. 1

Respect and Inspiration MY ENJOYMENT OF BLUE MARBLE UNIVERSITY’S CHINA PROGRAM WAS BASED ON A RESPECT FOR THE UNIVERSITY THAT UNCEASINGLY GREW AND BROUGHT REPEATED INSPIRATION. Not only does quality take time to create, but it can also take time to know. There are numerous reasons for the quality of Blue Marble University, but the two that stood out specifically for the China Program were that it was realistic and lean. The program’s goal is p roficiency in Chinese, which is what is needed in a professional capacity. How that is achieved is understood by the school to be a product of hard studious work rather than a product of seat time in a classroom. Therefore, unrelated and unnecessary course work was eliminated from my curriculum, cutting study time and cost dramatically. This is a lean and exceptionally realistic approach to education. For learners with family and professional lives looking for options in further education where time and money are in short supply, like myself, this is a great choice. Really, it was a joy for me to serendipitously find a school looking at education in such a fashion, and as I worked my way through the program, my respect for th e school’s approach to further education only deepened. My enjoyment of the program was also based on the inspiration that continuously arose as I experienced the school’s innovation, care and resourcefulness. Innovation Jumping on board and learning with an education institution that was thinking outside of the “ higher-edu cation” box was a continuous inspiration for me. Gradually, I came to learn the school had put natural and necessary education reform and innovation into action by trimming off the excess of bloated and expensive brick and mortar universities focused on seat time and class hours. This innovation was not only enjoyable for myself but also a continuous inspiration that gave me an extra boost many times throughout the learning process. 2

Care Though there were always prompt and helpful replies to all of my emails to instructors and staff, unavoidably it was a lone ride through the virtual learning landscape. With only virtual presence and support of faculty; with the onus of learning placed solely on myself to plod on amidst the hustle and bustle of everyday family and professional life — it was daunting at times. I never did feel lost though, and knew clearly my purpose and path for each course, which gave me confidence and urged me forward. This was due to the promptness, clarity and thoughtfulness of instructor guidance and administrative staff communications. These expressed the high-degree of professional care infused within the school. This care was inspiring and it greatly took the edge off of solo virtual self-learning! Resourcefulness It seems natural, really a no-brainer, that the internet would become a treasure-trove of resources for the field of education. Blue Marble University dips liberally into that treasure to create its programs, and for the China Program it harnesses a variety of media resources to allow students to learn and practice all that they need to be proficient. Due to being proficient in Chinese already, the university tapped one more of its resources, their student. Based on my feedback they created a self-directed degree program that allowed me to develop as a philosopher, an educator, a speaker of Chinese and as a traditional Chinese culture enthusiast. Being able to meld my Chinese proficiency development with study of other China-centric subjects of interest naturally elevated the meaningfulness and thus my enjoyment of the program. I have been able to experience Blue Marble’s innovative resourcefulness in another capacity, as an instructor/mentor of one of their other China Program students. Since teaching is a powerful way to learn, being tapped again as a resource for teaching in turn encouraged and deepened my own learning — and for a student, where does joy come from? Learning — and there has been a lot of that happening over the last two years! 3

Valuable Take-A-Ways FROM THE CLEARLY SEEN TO THE LESS TANGIBLE, A LARGE NUMBER OF VALUABLE THINGS WERE LEARNED AND ACQUIRED, REACHING FAR BEYOND EXPECTATIONS. On the tangible level I have come away with two videos showcasing my high-level of Chinese speaking and reading proficiency, a burgeoning online portfolio containing numerous Chinese language and culture related academic papers, a field study on the domestic Chinese herbal extract industry and two works of translation poised for publishing. Though not required by the degree program I was greatly encouraged by the university to publish one of my papers, and did so on Amazon. Finally, I have expanded my network of connections with fantastic professionals from the university. On the less tangible level, I increased acquisition of Chinese language and culture while the development of my writing, editing and translation skills took huge strides alongside greatly increased skill in the use of Microsoft Word. Image from my WordPress online portfolio. 4

To be used much like a resume for job hunting after graduating, the B LUE M ARBLE U NIVERSITY online portfolio is a showcase of learning done and academic work REQUIRES EACH STUDENT TO produced as well as of the academic CREATE AN ONLINE PORTFOLIO BY record and certificate of degree. LEARNING AND USING Guided by an instructor, students learn to use WordPress, which W ORD P RESS , BECOMING A MAJOR eventually leads to enough TAKE - A - WAY FOR ALL OF ITS proficiency with the website creation STUDENTS . platform that each student can make their own website from scratch. A huge take-a-way to say the least. Guided by the university, my self-directed degree program led to the creation of an eclectic body of academic work in writing and on video. Core insights into the vastness of traditional Chinese culture were made in my works of writing on the three major schools of Chinese philosophical thought: Confucianism, Daoism and Chinese Buddhism. TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) was explored through a field study on the state of China’s domestic herbal extract industry in which a reliable herbal extract supplier was searched for and found. Tapping my nearly two decades of China experience, a guidebook to living in China was written. Two translations were produced from an obscure Chinese philosophical text on the fundamental reformation of Confucian thought and practice. Two videos displaying my Chinese speaking and reading skills were made and, along with all of the above work, put up on my online portfolio. 5